From Iberia—Spain, the country of origin of many species
Annual or perennial herbs sometimes small shrubs, woody at the base. Leaves narrow, entire, toothed or deeply lobed. Flowers in terminal clusters, from white to pink and purple; sepals without a sac at the base; petals 4, outer pair much larger than the inner. Fruit broad usually winged at the tip. Seeds 1 per cell and generally winged.
Grows naturally mostly in limey soils.
The annuals I. amara and I. umbellata are bedding candytufts, the latter mostly in different colour forms and available, for instance, in mixed colours.
Fruit narrowly septate, outer petal pair larger than the inner pair; style distinct wih a rounded head.
About 30 species from C Europe and the Mediterranean.
Less frequently grown species are listed in the key and not described in detail.
Source: (1997). Brassicaceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 2. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 1. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.
